MP says sanctions and threats of military intervention are counter-productive
Last night, in a short debate on Britain’s additional financial sanctions on Iran, John Baron MP stressed the importance of diplomacy in our dealings with the country. He suggested sanctions were not only of marginal effect, but could be counter-productive, and urged the Government to go the extra mile for peace. The additional sanctions were introduced as a reaction to the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s nuclear programme.
John said,
“If Iran has set herself on nuclear weapons, she will not be scared away; if she has not, inflammatory sanctions may only serve to encourage her to get them. Sanctions are counter-productive and give support to the hardliners in Iran. The only sensible course of action is calm yet vigorous diplomacy.”
“Iran is a complex country. The West underestimates the opportunity to influence her. She is in a state of transition with multiple centres of authority and constant power struggles. The challenge for the West is to influence those struggles. We need to go the extra mile for peace.”
“Close reading of the IAEA’s report shows there is no smoking gun; only the suggestion that Iran is moving towards the option of manufacturing nuclear weapons. Much of the report is based upon dated western intelligence. But Iraq should have taught us to be wary of basing our major foreign policy decisions on secret intelligence. We once again underestimate the importance of status in the region.”
- For more of John’s thoughts, see http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2011/12/john-baron-mp-why-the-west-has-got-it-wrong-on-iran.html.
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